A Matter Of Concurrance
by Mello McQueen
Summary: Dedicated to HerSweetness, and Marik and Malik in light of the fact that it's their Birthday today! Set in Ancient Egypt. Slight MarikxMalik yaoi.


**Written By: **Hikari Riku

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugi-oh.

**Title: **A Matter Of Concurrence.

**A/N: **This one-shot is dedicated to Her Sweetness, who is probably the biggest Marik and Malik fan I know. It is of course; also dedicated to said two Egyptians, as it _is _their birthday today! Slight MarikxMalik. Set in Ancient Egypt.

* * *

Malik blinked slowly and opened his eyes, to see the relentless yellow sun shining down above him. If he hadn't been so weak he would have lifted his arm to shield his eyes from it's blinding glare, but as it were, he was _extremely _weak and therefore had to simply settle for turning his head.

It had been almost three days since he had escaped from the band of barters also known as (ruthless) traders, or merchants. That particular group seemed to have been composed mainly of cutthroats who seemed more likely to belong to a band of Sand-dancers rather then actually belonging to the group of barters they were traveling with.

Malik had been unfortunate to stumble upon their 'caravan' as he had, and even more so unfortunate to have been thought a thief. At this accusation from one of the barters, he had been brought before their leader, though he had not been taken their without a fight.

Before they'd actually managed to take him though, he'd managed to successfully kick one of them in the nuts (hopefully injuring him for life)break another man's nose, and leave a decent gash in another man's throat with his most trusted dagger, of which was now consequently broken in two and in a pouch around his waist, courtesy of the barters.

The leader had turned out to be a drunken fool though, which Malik had to assume was the only reason he was still breathing, and not dead. Not that that was going to last long if he didn't find some food and water quick…

In his state, Malik had been able to convince him not to kill him which the man had seemed pretty set on doing at the time, by offering to become his _slave _so to speak. After a very convincing argument even some of the barters believed what he was saying.

To demonstrate his _loyalty_to the man, he had graciously offered to do whatever the man asked, and seeing as how the man was drunk, he pretty much knew the answer before it had even left the man's mouth. That is to say, that it was what any other drunk, fairly wealthy leader of _thugs_ wanted.

Entertainment.

After being given a sword, Malik had been told that he would be fighting one of the _barters_ present, what he had not been told was that it would be the strongest… Unfortunately for Malik, he wasn't exactly the best skilled long swordsman in the world…his only real fighting skills involved hand-to-hand combat, and minor weapons. _Like certain daggers…_

The man had nearly taken his head off at least three times before he'd managed to even get a hit in, and nearly ten minutes later he was starting to think he was going to die, when the leader called the match off. After which he'd told the man to go back to his duties, and told Malik to sit down and have a drink.

Malik cautiously did so, and three hours later Malik found the man dead asleep. A side affect of the liquor he had consumed, while Malik, looked as though he hadn't drank anything at all. Mainly because…he hadn't.

Aside from the first drink he'd taken, he hadn't actually drank anymore. Every time he took a drink, he'd chase it with another, and spit the first out into the bottle, though the guards and their leader never seemed to notice this, and in their attempts to 'out-drink' him, almost all of them had drunk themselves either into a very deep sleep, or to death…

Malik kind of hoped it was the last one for one of the guards, as during this drinking spout the man had been foolishly hitting on him quite a lot, which had more then annoyed the hell out of him. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had to be careful, he would have promptly beat the man up, but as it were, he couldn't take that risk.

Once he was certain the last man had fallen asleep, he took the bottle away from his mouth and slowly got to his feet, picking up his ruined dagger and pocketing it, before slowly creeping out of the tent the men had set up as camp for the night.

Swiftly and quietly with all the grace of a thief, Malik fled from the camp, running through the desert, unaware of where he was or where he was headed, only stopping when he realized he'd left the camp far behind.

He trudged through the endless sands for nearly a day, before exhaustion took over and he collapsed into it, falling into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke, he wasn't aware of what had happened, and had been quite disoriented at first, until he recalled what had happened, and suddenly paranoid that the barters might come back, he jolted to his feet, and took off running.

The sun was high in the sky, and he judged that it was around noon and much to his dismay he was getting really hungry. Upon thinking about it, he realized quite grudgingly that he hadn't eaten since a little before he was captured nearly a day and a little over a half before…if he didn't find food soon he'd starve…

And starve was what he'd done, as he'd walked through the sand tired, hungry, and thirsty, until he'd finally collapsed unable to go any further.

Three days of walking and he'd seen absolutely no sign of civilization…and now…now he was laying in the sand after having been asleep for Ra only knew how long, barely hanging on.

Malik could have sworn his eyesight was starting to fail him now, and not in the since that he thought he saw a mirage as he stared out across the desert, considering that he'd long since been seeing them, but in the since that everything was starting to blur, and he could no longer make anything out. Not that there was much to make out in the first place, aside from a rather large wall of rocks to his left that is…but still…

_'Damn…'_ Malik thought as his eyes started to close, and his head lulled from side to side as he began to lose consciousness. "Isis is…gonna be…so…mad…when she…realizes…I took…off…she's gonna…kill…me…" he finished in barely a whisper as his eyes closed shut and all conscious thought left him.

* * *

Marik hummed slightly to himself as he trotted along the desert feeling oddly cheerful for some reason. He wasn't sure how, but today was a good day. Something amazing was going to happen, he just knew it.

Actually, he was a little curious to know what this 'something amazing' was, and aside from his unusual cheerful disposition which was a major change from his grouchy, moody, and slightly insane one, that he had come to consider as normal, he felt extremely anxious. He couldn't wait to find out, and reasoned that he'd never find out if he stayed hidden within his castle…which was actually a huge pile of giant rocks in the side of a large cliff.

Marik had lived there for nearly two years.

It was conveniently located in a more deserted part of the desert, that not many people passed through, next to an underground clear water spring, and though the air inside was a little damp, it was clean and not at all suffocating as one might expect it to be, when you lived beneath a pile of massive rocks.

The rocks had small cracks in them here and there, which allowed just the right amount of sunlight and/or moonlight to shine through, illuminating the small cavern without the use of candles.

"Ah home." Marik said turning around and putting his hands on his hips to examine the formation. Most people wouldn't have seen what was so great about it, (in fact, most would have preferred to live in an actual house) but Marik loved it.

Over the past couple years, he had furnished it with _borrowed_ items, such as tapestry's, pillows, rugs, blankets, and among other things, shiny gold trinkets. If one didn't know better, they might assume Marik was rich…

Marik smiled at his home before turning around and continuing on, or rather attempting to…he barely made it half a step before his foot hit something solid, causing him to lose his balance and topple over landing flat on his face.

Growling and spitting out sand he hurriedly picked himself up, and turned to see the evil thing that had caused him to fall, and stopped dead when he realized it was a person. Marik cocked his head to the side curiously examining them.

After a few seconds he determined it was a boy, with long blond hair quite like his own, only less spiky, tanned skin, also surprisingly alike his own, dressed in a pair of tanned tattered pants, a white sleeveless shirt, and a long light brown tunic. He also wore four (seemingly connected) golden bangles around each wrist, one gold bangle around each forearm, and three (seemingly connected) golden bangles around his neck, and Marik also noted that he had on a pair of matching pointed earrings.

Said person stared down at the boy for nearly five minutes before the thought that he might quite possibly need help crossed his mind and he rushed back to his 'house' and fetched his horse whom he called Sedjet **(1)**,which he'd also _barrowed_ though…that had been several years ago, and Sedjet now thought of him as it's master.

The horse walked considerably faster then Marik had on his own, and within about five minutes they were within view of the boy, whom of which was now being eyed by a rather large vulture…

"HEY!" Marik shouted at it throwing his arms up to scare it off, though this had little effect, and it was actually the boy who scared it off, because he had stirred slightly, enough to inform the vulture that he wasn't dead yet, and seemingly disgusted at this information the large bird turned it's nose up and flew away.

Marik approached the boy slowly looking around as if paranoid the bird might come back, before calling Sedjet over, and ordering it to kneel down so he could get the boy on it's back, and Sedjet obeyed.

Marik picked up the boy and placed him on the horse, taking great care to make sure he wasn't going to fall off, before he climbed on as well and patted Sedjet, indicated that it should stand and take them back.

Sedjet did so, though shakily as it was, because of the weight, and upon their arrival at Marik's 'house' neighed in annoyance as Marik took the boy off it's back, and gave him a look as if to say 'What do you think I am a mule?' before trotting off to it's hiding place deep within the rock's walls while Marik turned and carried the boy inside.

* * *

Malik groaned, as he returned to the world of the semi-conscious. Slowly his mind registered that he felt slightly uncomfortable. His head was hurting and he couldn't seem to open his eyes no matter how hard he tried.

If he had been more awake it probably would have stood to reason that that was because he hadn't eaten in Ra only knew how long, and was very close to being on the verge of dying from dehydration and/or starvation. However, he was much to tired and exhausted to think that that might be the cause.

After a few seemingly endless moments, the memory of what happened returned to him, and he suddenly felt a very strong urge to open his eyes and start walking before he couldn't ever open his eyes again, but the moment he tried something or rather someone stopped him.

"Don't get up. You need to rest." A voice informed him, and though he barely registered what it was saying, he lay back down. After a few seconds Malik attempted once again to open his eyes and much to his delight it actually worked, though reluctantly as it was.

It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light in the room, and be able to make out anything at all, and the first thing he saw was a pair of lavender eyes staring into his own.

Blinking slowly, Malik opened his mouth to attempt to say something but he found that he couldn't speak, most likely due to not having anything to drink for so long. The person before him seemed to realize this as well, and after ordering him not to move and telling him that he would be right back, quickly walked across the room, returning several seconds later with a bowl filled with water.

"Here drink this." He instructed and helped Malik drink the water, which he found was quite a difficult task after not having drank anything in so long.

"Is that better?" The man asked putting the water away.

Malik nodded and tried to speak again, slightly surprised when he did and his voice sounded weak, even to his ears. Unintentionally he began pouting at the thought, and only realized that he was doing it, when the man suddenly started to laugh.

Malik looked up glaring and now realized that the person didn't seem to be any older then he himself. Like Malik the man had tanned skin, lavender eyes, and spiky blond hair, he was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt, black pants, and a black cloak, with bangles around his wrists, forearms, and neck, exactly like Malik.

"…Who…are you?" Malik asked, the tone of his voice frustrating him to no end.

The teen smiled at his obvious annoyance. "I'm Marik, and you?" he questioned his voice sounding oddly curious, and excited.

"I'm…" Malik quickly thought over whether or not it would be a good idea to entrust the teen with his real name or not, before deciding that it couldn't hurt. "…Malik."

_'Weird…even our names sound similar…'_ Marik thought his eyes scanning over the other gleaming with excitement, which unfortunately was beginning to freak Malik out.

"C-could you stop staring at me like I'm some lab specimen." Malik said inching away from Marik who had sat down on the make-shift pallet across from him.

Marik eyed him for a few more seconds before he hurriedly ducked his head in obvious embarrassment. "Sorry…it's just…" Marik paused and his head snapped up startling Malik a little.

"I **_knew_ **something amazing was going to happen today!" he exclaimed jumping to his feet and beginning to pace around the room, "When I woke up this morning I had this funny feeling that something would happen, and I was right! I just never thought it would be finding my look-alike in the middle of the desert!" he said starting to ramble.

"Okay so maybe the thought has crossed my mind a few times, 'specially since I met that band of Sand-dancers with that leader and his look-alike-lover **(2)**,a few months ago but…" Marik sighed loudly and fell back down on the pallet, using his elbow to prop his head up so that he could look Malik who had at some point sat up, directly in the eye.

The two stared at each other for several seconds before Malik suddenly started to blush and had to look away.

Marik smirked. "That color looks good on you." He stated, succeeding in making Malik turn an alarming shade of red. Marik opened his mouth to continue, just to see how far he could go, when his stomach growled loudly and he looked down at it glaring.

Malik blinked, and looked over at him, suddenly starting to laugh. Marik tried to scowl at him, but he couldn't seem to do so as his face distorted and he wound up smiling, before he too burst into a fit of giggles.

Malik sighed falling back on the pillows and blankets once both he and Marik had ceased laughing. His stomach growled loudly. "I'm hungry." He informed, and Marik chuckled.

"Me too." He said, and got to his feet to go fetch some food, returning a good ten minutes later with a considerable amount of it.

Malik immediately began to eat, swallowing it without barely even chewing, and after three minutes Marik had to stop him. "Don't eat so fast!" he scolded grabbing hold of Malik's wrist successfully stopping him from shoving anymore food into his mouth, "If you haven't eaten in a while, eating fast will make you sick." He stated matter-o'-factly staring into Malik's eyes with a deadly serious expression.

Malik stared back at him, then nodded slowly, and began taking small bites instead.

The two ate in silence for a while, until there was nothing left to eat, and Marik put everything away. "So where do you live Malik?" he questioned, and Malik looked up at him a little surprised.

"Um…Thebes." He informed slowly, as if he were uncertain whether he should tell the other this.

Marik looked thoughtful. "That's a long way away from here." He stated, "but there's a town about an hour away. I could…take you there tomorrow and maybe…you could find transportation to get you…home." He said, sounding oddly saddened.

"Oh…uh…alright…" Malik said, getting the distinct impression that Marik didn't exactly want him to leave, and for whatever reason he couldn't fathom he kind of liked it here, with his 'look-alike'. "but…I don't really…_have_ to leave…" he said slowly, "unless of course…you want me too…" he added quickly, as Marik sat up and stared at him.

"Course I don't. I just thought…that maybe you had family you'd like to go home to. You know…in Thebes."

Malik smiled, "Well I do _have_ family. A sister named Isis actually…but she's married and lives with her husband." He paused, "I had a brother…but…he died protecting me during a raid…and…I just kind of live alone." He informed, pausing slightly at that last part before continuing. "So…I could stay. I mean…if you want me to."

"I'd like that."

"Me too."

* * *

**OWARI**

* * *

I don't know if I'm entirely happy with this ending but it will have to do since...I'm way to damn tired to think of something else...

**(1)** Sedjet means Fire in Egyptian (I always get the impression that Marik would like fire)

**(2)** Yes, that's Bakura and Ryou, Marik is talking about, and YES it's in reference to **A Matter Of Trust**, which I am currently re-doing, and hopefully will have redone in the next week. (So basically nothing in this story has anything to do with the other…yet. But it will when I'm done so...it's still a sequal!)

Anyway, I hope you all like it, anddon't forget to review!** _Walks away singing happy birthday to Marik and Malik_**


End file.
